Thursday, August 29, 2013

President Obama Spoke for All Americans in Hornoring the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. (Dr. Martin Luther King, 28 August, 1963, from his speech at the Lincoln Memorial)

This speech by President Obama at the Lincoln Memorial yesterday honoring the 50th Anniversary of Dr. King's March on Washington where he delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech makes me proud of the vote I cast as a Republican for Barack Obama for President on November 6th, 2012. He truly is a man of all the people in this Country no matter what the hard right has to say which includes most Republican members of Congress.

Not one Republican member of the Congress showed up to the event yesterday even though they all received invitations from the organizing group who also asked Republican Congressional leadership to talk at the event. The new black South Carolina Senator Scott's office had the audacity to say he didn't receive an invite, then it was lost in the mail, but the real reason is that no Republicans showed up and he refused to attend for IMO fear of the hard right constituents. That's sad out of a Party that talks about a restart with the minority community when they won't even attend the 50th Anniversary March on Washington by Dr. King and thousands of Americans across the Country.

Shame on Congressional Republicans. GOP doesn't need to ask for my vote in November 2014 because my vote goes to the people who truly stand for "We the People" meaning every last person no matter race or nationality or gender.

This speech by President Obama sent chills up my spine when he talks about We the People are marching. He has my full support!

Fifty years ago, the heroic voice of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. rang out across our capital, our country, and the world, and called on us to become the more perfect union he believed we were destined to be. A country which endows every man, woman and child with unalienable rights to “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

These are words which we repeat so often, that their depth and relevance today can easily be missed.

Any nation which pledges to honor its citizen’s right to “life” should enact and protect laws which ensure high quality and affordable access to the doctors, treatment, and preventative care we need to live full and healthy lives.

Any country committed to defending “liberty” should protect our fundamental right as Americans; the right to vote. Our liberty is dependent upon free and inclusive elections, and our ability to peacefully hold our leaders accountable, while directing the course of our country. Dr. King was the first to tell us that the “arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends toward justice.” President Obama went further today, to remind us all that "the arc of the moral universe may bend toward justice, but it doesn't bend on its own."

The right to “pursue happiness” is most secure when we put the education of all of our children, the growth of our economy, the health of our businesses, the creation of jobs, and the stability of our markets ahead of self-interest, and political posturing. Every American deserves to feel the pride of a hard-earned paycheck, and the opportunity to achieve their dreams, regardless of who they are, or the zip code of their birth.

As we reflect on the tremendous progress made over the past half-century, we honor those brave leaders who paved the way, and upon whose shoulders we all stand, by recognizing our responsibility to undertake the immense job still at hand. This is a time to reaffirm our commitment to the ideals on which America was founded, and to help ensure this country continues to “rise up,” as Dr. King declared 50 years ago, and “live out the true meaning of its creed.”

As President Obama traced the steps of giants today, let us also remember the extraordinary things accomplished by the countless ordinary people, who President Obama often calls America’s “quiet heroes.” They are our parents and grandparents; our coworkers, classmates, and neighbors. They are the men and women in this country who have rolled up their sleeves, and laced up their work boots every day over the past five decades to move this country forward. Some who marched – others who simply took the early shift, year after year, so they would be home in time to cook dinner for their families before heading to a second job. Let us remember the many who have faced down violence, despair, and incredible odds, just to give their children a chance at a better life, and our country the chance to live up to its full potential.

Today we salute the heroes who inspired us 50 years ago, and we honor the millions more whose blood, sweat, and divine strength have served to define our nation. We honor them with our reverence, and our willingness to sacrifice for the greater good, and march on. We honor them with our urgent action to deliver all Americans the rights and opportunities they deserve.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." (Martin Luther King Jr., 16 April 1963, Birmingham, AL)

This picture of President Barack and Michelle Obama from in front of the statute of Abraham Lincoln shows how far we have come as a Nation - we cannot retreat now but must move forward to ensure that all people have the same rights including the Right to Vote without suppression. Not all Republicans support the hard right voter suppression laws being passed and are starting to speak out like General Colin Powell and Cong James Sensenbrenner (R-WI) who believes the Voting Rights Act portion the SCOTUS threw out was wrong and needs rewritten to make sure all have an equal right to vote. As Head of the House Judiciary, he intends to get the job done in rewriting the law and getting it passed and signed by the President. The big question is whether GOP leadership will allow his bill to come for a vote. It is up to all of us to make sure our elected Representatives know we want the Voting Rights Act fully restored and fully implemented.

God Bless this President who is standing tall in the face of chaos created by Congressional Republicans with their hard right stances and refusal to compromise in order not to see the President win a fight. The 'my way or no way' hard right is going to find out when they return to DC after their boondoggle for five weeks that this President is in no mood for their antics. As time has passed, we have witnessed this President grow in the job. Am proud to say that I stand with President Obama on the debt ceiling and budget fights against the shenanigans on the hard right of the House and Senate who do not have the best interests of the American people and this Country at Heart.

Time to move American forward by passing a new Voting Rights Act, Immigration, Gun Registration, a budget, and most importantly the increase in the debt ceiling without any strings attached. The American people deserve no less!